134
PROC. OF THE OKLA. ACAD. OF SCI. FOR 1963
New FrMcIom or New Slavery:
Woodrow Wilson
and the Emergence of a New Negro Leadenhip
JACK L FORREST, NoJ1beastem State CoUece
1D the 1890'8 a general movement developed in the South, sanctioned
by court decisions. which by 1910 had almost completely disfranchised the
black dUJ1eD8 aDd bad introduced widespread "Jim CroWism." The Negro
in countering the new aggresalve racist attacks had llWe chance of aid
from the naUona1 Republican Party which as early as the 1880'8 had
8Ddor8ed the white supremacy movement in the South. In addition the
cllmate of the Spanlah-American War provided addecllmpetus to the idea
of C&ucauelan BUpremacy. After 1900. race riots &Del anti-Negro llterature
turtbend the n.cl8t tbInkIng and increased the difficulties tor the black
nee.
SOCIAL SCIENCES
136
During the critical period trom 1890 to 1910 Booker T. Wuhtngton,
the principal national leader of the colored race, did not consCiously encourage or sanction the innovations, but his program for the race generally
proved to be compatible with the results if not the spirit behind the antiNegro legislation. The Tuskegee President's basic goal was to win white
support and philanthropy tor Negro education. He relegated political
activity to the future and accepted social separation. However, he continually fOUght for equality of "Jim Crow" accommodations and attended
the various disfranchising conventions, where he endorsed the principles
of Urnited suffrage but urged application ot the limitations without regard
to race.
The Tuskegee philosophy, reacting against the disappointments of poUtical activities dUring Reconstruction and based on a reaUstic appraisal of
the Negroes' economic needs, rested on the belief that self-Improvement,
primarily through economic progress and a concUlatory attitude, would
bring inevitable progress in the political and social spheres. This was
pragmatic and realistic, but It required at least the good will if not the
cooperation of the whites. It was more compatible with the old southern
paternalistic attitude than the late nineteenth century aggressive expressions of racism.'
Partly because of the belief that the Tuskegee method contributed to
or was not adequate to cope with the new problems, and because of the
general refonn spirit of the time, Washington's ideas and leadership were
increasingly challenged after 1902. The first significant Negro figure to
offer resistance to, and the man who became the leading dissenter from
the Washington school of thought, was a Massachusetts-hom Atlanta University professor of sociology, W.E.B. DuBois. In 1903, DuBois projected
in his book, 8ou18 0/ Black Folk) a bellef that Washington's work, although
necessary and valuable, was not sufficient, and the time had come for
Negroes to demand full and equal rights of citizenship. The same year
another important voice of dissent appeared In the person of Wllllam
Monroe Trotter, a Harvard-educated lawyer who was founder and coeditor of the Boston Guardian, a Negro weekly. Trotter burst upon the
national scene when he and his followers turned a Boston meeting which
was being addressed by Washington, into a general riot. This action
resulted in a thirty-day jail sentence tor Trotter and unanimous denunCiation from the colored press for his unheard-of "irreverent" treatment ot
Washington. 2
In an attempt to unify the small group of "independents'· or "r&d1caIa,
DuBois Issued a call tor a secret convention of interested persona to meet
Dear Niagara Falls in July, 1905. Out ot this meeting of twenty-nine
persons representing thirteen states, emerged the "Niagara Movement."
They issued a manHesto that, among other things, demanded tun suttrage
for the Negroes, an end to "Jim Crowism," and the right of tree a.uoclation. However, the Niagara movement after reaching a high point of two
hundred and thirty-six members in April, 1907, collapsed because of the
lack of financial resources and the active opposition of Washington. AJao,
the uncompromising character ot both DuBois and Trotter caU8ed internal
dissension which resulted in the latter leaving the organiZation.'
tlr.
More dissat1BfacUon with the Tuskegee leadership appeared in 1904
after major race riota in Atlanta and Brownsville. Alexander Walten.
Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and preetdent of the
Afro-American Council, broke with the Republican Party over the handUna'
Of the Bl"OWD8Vil1e riot and organiZed the National Colored Democratic
League. The BIshop in 1905 had unsucceufully eought Wuhington's approval for hls plan to convert the loosely organiZed and virtually lDactJve
Council, the Iarge8t Negro organiZation in tbe United Statu, into a liberal
136
PROC. OF THE OKLA. ACAD. OF SCI. FOR 1963
The Bishop'. dec1a:ton In 1907 to support the
Democratic Ucket placed him In opposition to Washington. who had estabIIaJIed cIoN reJaUou with the national Republican Party prior to 1900.'
"'poD aplut the radicaJa.
Tbe dluau.tactlon with the Republican Party as a result of Roo8&of the BroWMV111e affair and the exclusion of Negroes from
tile aoutllem convention deleptioDl, provided a rallying point for the
ndJcaIa In 1908. Trotter, after h1a break with the Niagara oorganizatioD,
orpnJzed the National Equal Rights League In April, 1908. The stated
~ of the Leape wu to help prevent the nomination and election of
WIWam Howard Taft. DuBol8 by 1908 was trying, without success, to
penuade the Democrats to repudiate the southern racial policies in return
tor the northern Negro vote, which he believed, it mobll1zed, could deliver
Hew Jeraey, New York. Ohio, IndJana and Dllnois to the Democratic ban·
aero During the campaign. he first advocated a boycott by the colored
YoteI'lI and then announced hl8 support of William ~. Bryan, although with
IltUe enthuelum. The individuall8t1c efforts of DuBois, Trotter and Wale
ten on behalf of the Democrata had little 8Ucce8ll1n attracting Negro supPOrt. beeaUle of the predominant Washington lnt1uence, but it posed a
poteDtla11y ..rloua cballenge to the traditional Republican Negro vote.'
..It'. handJlns
lAte In 1908, u a result of a lynching in Springfield, IlUnols, and the
racl8t action. outside the South, a group of northern reformers
led by Oawald G. Villard, pUblisher of the Nation magazine and the New
Fork ~"'t1 P<Mt and the grandson of William Lloyd Garrison, launched
a movement that In the following year culminated in the Inter-racial National AIIoelation for the Advancement of Colored People.
Ip~
Tbe Aaoelation wu at first dominated by white clUzens, including
JaDe Addama, John Dewey, Willlam Dean Howells, Uncoln Steffena, Moorfteld Storey, Mary White Ovtngton and Joel Spingam. Only five Negroea
attended the founctlnl' conference in February, 1909, and DuBois was the
0Dly Necro officer eelected when the new movement was formally organlied in May, 1910. He was named Director of Publlcations and was given
complete edJtorlal freedom in hla lupervislon of the Criris, the monthly
orpD of the N .A.A..C.P.
Alexander Walten, the Reverend J. Kilton Waldron, the treasurer of
the ctetunct Ntacara auoelatlOD, and John B. Mllholland, president of the
ConatltutioD&1 League ,a national interracial lobbying organization for
Nell'O rtl'hta, were the other aignltlcant colored charter members. Trotter
4ecUnect to join becaWle of hW early contllcta with DuBois. Furthermore,
be beUevect the tone on the movement was too conservative.'
Thua In 1910, u the Nepo dlatranchlaement and "Jim Crow" leglslaUon wu near completion in the South, the passive political and social
DhUCMIOpby of WuhlDI'ton wu be1ng challenged by a group of northern
1('11'0 and Interradal oqanlatlODa. supported by a segment of the northem white pre. and MVerat Nell'O pubUcaUona, Including the G'risY.. the
C1en1anct Otuette, the Baltimore Afro-America. and the Boston GtccardicJ.,
devoted to qttaUOn, legal action and independent political pressure on
behalf of immediate equal dtlaenahip rights for the Negro.
The amal1 crouP of Negro radicals and their white aWes felt by 1912
that they bad auttldent foUowiDg and Influence to extract conceatODB
IrGm ODe of the major putt_ Havtq alrady rejected the RepubUC&IUI.
tIM racItea1I turned to tile Proarealve Party. However, the Progressive
leadenblp retuaed to
the 80Uthem Negro convention delegations,
&D4 \be platform CODUDIttee rejeetecl a clvO rlghts plank drafted by
DuBaU aDd pneentecl by Joel SpInpm.· A . result, the Independent
N..... aDCl tbeIr wldte aupportera ..... obUpcl to obtaIIl the best they
tbuJd trom Woodrow wu.aa. -.,ate tbelr t..... 01 the Democratic Party
recocm-
SOCIAL SCIENCES
1S7
and the concem over Wilson'. southern birth. Rumors tbat he bad drawn
the color line at Princeton and &8 Governor ot New Jersey Increuect the
anxiety ot many ot the leaders.
Seeking some assurances, a committee from the Independent Equal
Rights League headed by the Reverend Milton Waldron and WUUam Mon~
roe Trotter approached WUaon &8 early as July 16, 1912.- They apparently
received only the vague response tbat if elected he would "seek to be
President ot the whole nation and would know no dJ.tterencea ot race or
creed or section, but to act in good conscience and in a Chriatlan aplrlt ••. u ..
However, Waldron made pubUc alleged remarks by WUaon tbat he
Invited Negro support and would veto any anti-Negro legtalatlon, paaaed
by Congress. Upon learning of the action by Waldron, Wllaon wrote to
Oswald Villard denying that be had promised to veto any leglalatlon or had
said he was In need of Negro votes. In an attempt to clarlfy his vteWi and
to satisty the demands upon him, WUson urged Villard to prepare a statement that he could issue as his official position on the Negro question.
But when Villard presented him with a draft prepared by DuBola It was
rejected Wilson was not wUUng to endorse the position that the Democratic Party sought or welcomed Negro support or that he personally was
opposed to racial disfranchisement. II Throughout the remaining aummer
months of 1912, Villard and others continued to seek eome statement on
the Negro problem that would include definite propoaaIa, but failed to
receive a satsfactory response.
In October, Blahop Alexander Walters Invited Wilson to address a
ma.ss meeting in New York City of the National Colored Democratic
League. Walters had supported the Democratic Ticket since 1907 and
was almost a party regular in comparlaon to the more IndependenUy
oriented N.A.A.C.P., DuBois, and Trotter. Wilson declined the invitation
but on October 16 sent a letter to the Bishop for public release.
I hope tbat It IHml IUperfJuous to tho.. who know 111•• but to tho•• who do DOt
know me perbap. It is not unneee.larJ' for me to .s.ur. IIIJ' coloured f.llow cltiIoen. of my earn•• t wl.h to lee jUltfce done th•• In .".~ . .t~rc and not ....r•
• rudarfD&, Justiee, but SUltie• •ucuted witb Jlberal1t7 aDd cord. . . .oocl f ..UD&'.
Eve~ &,u&rantH of our law. .ve~ prinelple of ollr Constitution com. .nu thl.
and our .,lIIpatblel .hould .lao . .te It "'J' . • •. Ib .J'aa-th, for them I, of
Ion... t.ndlna'. and I w.nt to a ..ure them throu&'h 'ou that Ihould I become Pr•• i·
dent of tb. United States th.J' "J' count upOn . . for ab.olute f.ir deallD&' and
for eveJ7thfn. bJ' which J could .....t In adYAnch,. tb. fum•• t. of thetr nee In
the United State••"
11Wt became WlliIon's offtcialltand on the Negro queatlon.
Trotter and Walters and their respective organizations, the National
Colored Democratic League and the National Independent PoUtlcal League.
gave Wilson their enthualastlc support. With less enthullum and more
miaglvlngs, DuBois and the leaders of the N.A.A.C.P. endorseeS the Democratic candidate late in the campaign." It is extremely unlikely that the
efforts of the rad1~ on behalf of WlliIon had any effect on the outcome
of the elecUolL Nevertheless, they confidently welcomed the inauguration
and were sure that their etton. had not been in vain.
The hopes held by some ot the radtcala of a "second emaDclpatlon"
UDder WU80n were quickly dl8pe1led as report. from the capital in the
late Iprlng of 1913 indlcated that widespread sepegatlon wu belnc ln8tlgated in the Post Office and Treasury Departmenu. Tbe admin1atraUon'.
decision to introduce segregation wu made . . early .. April 11, 1913. At
that time during a cabinet meeting POIItmuter General Bur1elloD comPla1ned of friction between white and Negro railway mall clera and nefeated separation as the remedy, not just for Ju. department but tor all
departmeDta. He claimed to have dl.-cuaecI die matter with BUbop Walten and other colored cltlzeD8 &lid to have received _ approval of DIM
138
PROC. OF THE OKLA. ACAD. OF SCI. FOR 1963
of them. The Pre8ident gave hiB consent to the prepared changes and
.u~ that he had ". . . made no promises in particulars to the Negroes,
except to do them jU8t1ce . . . ." I t
When the aegregation adjU8tments became apparent, the N.A..A.C.P.
and VUIard forwarded protests and inquiries to Wllson demanding some
explanation. On July 23, in a letter to Villard, Wtl80n explained that it
Wal
• .. true that the '.are.atlon of the colored empJoy~. in the aeveral departments
wu ~Qn upOn Lbe InitlaUve and at the lU.ae.tlon of .everal of the heada of
de.-rtmentl, but .. much In tbe Interelt uf the Negroe. aa for any o~her re&llon.
with Lb. approval of .ome of the moet InfluenUal Negroea . • . and With the Idea
that the friction or rat bel' the dl.content and uneaalne••, whlcb bad prevailed In
many of the department. would thereb, be removed.
The President then jU8tified the action as being in the best interest of the
race.
It J. . . far a. pouJble from beina a movement agalnat the Negroea.
bell.ve It to be In their Inter..t.
I alneerely
I am .orry that thoae who Interelt th..maelve. moet In the welfare of
.hould ml.Judge thl. &etlon on the part of the de.-nmenta . . . • )(y
I., b, puUlna cert4lln bur.au. and .ectlon. In the charge of Negroel
derln. them more .ate In their po.....lon of ofllce and len likely to
nated a.aln.t."
the Negroel
own feeling
we are renbe discrimi-
As proteata from the northern press and Church organizations were
added to those of the Negroes, Wilson on September 8, in a letter to H. A.
Bridgman, editor of the Congregationali8t and Chriatian World, made his
views on the 8egregaUon policies public.
· . . I do not approve of tbe ...reKaUon that. i. beinK attempted in several of the
department•.
• ..• but I think If 10U were here on the around you would lee, as I lIeem to lIee.
that It. I. dl.tfnetl, to the advantage of the colored people themeelves that
they .hould be o,..anlaed, .0 far a. pouible and convenient, In diatinct bureaux
wh.r. th., will center their work. Some of the moat thougbful colored men I
have converled with have . . . approved of this Polley. I certainly would not
m,I.lf bavi approved 01 It If I had not thought It to be to tbelr advantage and
lIlc.ly to remove man, of the difficulties which bave aurrounded the appOintment
and advanclment of colored min and women.
Later in September, In a letter to Vlllard, Wilson offered a more apologetic
explanation.
What I would do II I could act alone ,ou already know, but what I am trylnK to
do IIlUlt be done, " doni at an, throuKh the cooperation of thOle with whom 1
a. uloclat" with In the Govern.ent.
• ••• 1 bellivi that by tb, ,low p.....ure of &raument and "nuuion tbe .ltuation
~ be ehaaK" • . . • B-at It cannot. be done • . . if a bitter aait4ltion i, inaugurated . . . It
Amidst the conflicting reports and rumors. the N.A.A.C.P. had conducted an InvestJgation of conditions In the federal departments, as part
ot their naUon-wide protest campaign. On November 17. the A8s0ciation
releued ita ftndlDp to the news services. five hundred newspapers, fifty
reUetOUII publlcations and many magazine editors. Also the report was
circulated to the members of Congress. It declared that segregation had
been carried out In the M.l8cellaneous and Examining Division of the Bureau
ot Encr&vtne and PrInting. the Dead Letter OffIce of the Post Office
Department. and the auditor's office ot the Post Oftlce. In addition. the
rel4tue clalmed that plans were under way to place the two hundred and
SOCIAL SCIENCES
139
seventy colored employees in the Treasury building into an all-Negro Registry Division. to
The nation-wide protests possibly had some effect on preventing any
further extension of segregation after December 1913. However, by that
time most of the colored employees had been separated. and the abandonment of plans for the Registry was in part because of the failure to gain
Senate confirmation of a Negro Register.
An anti-climax to the segregation controversy took place late in 1914.
William M. Trotter, at the head of a delegation of the National Independent
Equal Rights League, met with Wilson on November 12, 1914. A Trotter
committee once before, on January 6, 1914, had presented the President
with an anti-segregation petition with 20,000 signatures." The November
interview scheduled for fifteen minutes lasted almost an hour as Trotter
and Wilson became engaged in heated discussion that resulted in the President rebuking Trotter for his aggressive attitude and dismissing the delegation. Wilson declared any further discussions between himself and the
Negro race would have to be with a different leader. During the interview
the President stated that the segregatlon affair was a human and not a
political question. He labeled Trotter's threat, that he would lose the
Negro votes, blackmail and a matter of indifference to him. Wilson informed the delegation that the cabinet members had investigated the
situation and had reported that,
. . . the segregation was caused by frietlon between colored and white clerk. and
not done to injure or humiliate the colored clerks, but to avoid friction •.. [They]
had assured him that the colored clerks would have comfortable condition., thoui'h
segregated. He had taken their view that the segregation was the belt way til
meet this situation . . .
The President then elaborated on the Negro problem in general.
It will take one hundred yeara to eradicate this prejudice. and we mull. deBI with
it as practical men. Segrellation i. not humiliating but a benefit, and ousht to be
so rellarded by you gentlemen. If your orllanizaUon aoe. out and tell. the colored
people of the country that it i.. a humiliation. they wl1l so rejfard it, but if )'ou du
not tell them so. and regard it rather aa a benefit, they will Allard it the aame.
The only harm that will come will be if you eaule them to think it f• • humllfatfon.
Trotter countered with the claim that for fifty years White and colored
have worked together in peace and harmony and accused Wilson of violating his 1912 pledges that had given many Negroes the belief that he would
be "a second Lincoln. ''It
In an attempt to rally support and keep the controversy alive, Trotter
conducted a lecture tour in the East and Middle West, but with little success. He was condemned for his lack of tact and diplomacy by several ot
the colored neW8papers.~ The affair did serve further to confirm Wilson'8
position and alienate Trotter and other Negroes who had supported him in
1912. An example was the Baltimore AfrO-American, Which had been placing all of the blame for the segregation policies on the southern influence,
especially on Senator James K. Vardaman of Mississippi. But after the
Trotter interview the Alro-American finally gave up all hope. "Mr. WlIson has proved himself to be a traitor, to be a receiver of goods under talse
pretense .... "It
Concurrent to the segregation dispute and serving as added evidence
to the radicals that they had misplaced thelr support in the 1912 election
were the President's patronage policies in regard to the Negro. When
Wilson took office in 1913, Negroes held over tlfty federal appointive positiona. Of these, thirty-one were posItions of author.ty and object8 of race
pride. By the end of 1915 the Negroes retained only eight. a
140
PROC. OF THE OKLA. ACAD. OF SCI. FOR 1963
M a renlt of Wl18on·. segregation and patronage poUcles. the hopes
by the radicaJ8 In 1912 bad been sbattered by the end ot 1915.
credit or blame for the President·. raclaI poUcies probably belongs to
the 80uthem membel'8 of ~ party in Congreu. WllBon aa early sa August,
1118, had 8bowD ~ reluctance to oppose the southern legUl1ators. when
he NtUMd to appoint, at tbe wggeat10n ot VUlard, a commission to study
nee re1atioM.- To have oppoaed the BOuthem Democrats on the racla1
Iuue could poulbly bave endangered parts of his program Wilson conIddered more Important.
The rauJu ot the radlcal8' polltica1 activities seemed on the surface
to provide added argum.nt for the Washingtonian non-poUtica1 orlentatIon. N.vertheJ.... the N.A.A.C.P. maJntained a steady growth. From
1912 to 1918, the paying membership increased from three hundred and
twenty-nine to eJgbt thousand seven hundred and eighty-flve.1t And when
Booker T. Wuhlngton advlaed, during the height of the segregation controveny. that the Nel'J'Oes cease their useless protesttng and reject the
uncertainU.. ot political pursuiU in order to have more time for building
an economic foundation for progress, he was bitterly denounced by several
of the normally non-radical colored newspapers. The Columbian Herald
labeled the advice a "doctrine that had . . . resulted in growing up a generation of moral cowards . . ':' and the Cleveland Gazette termed it a
"doctrine of surrender." The Louislana Newa branded Washington a
''Wh1te-Man·Made·Leader,'' While the Tuskegee president, as a result
of the radical8' experiences with the Democratic admlnlstration, became
even more convinced that the economic basis offered the only hope tor
the advancement of the Negro, DuBois took the position that the evenu
under Wn.on only proved that the Negro had left poUUcs alone too long
and u a result, posseued no effective voice In his government.•
~eued
FooTNO'I'U
'SUil Mathewa, Booker T. Wa.yhingtOft: BducatOT aM Interrocial In·
terprefer (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1948): C. Vann Woodward. Drill.... 01 1M New SOt't", 1811-1913 (Baton Rouge: LouJaJana State
Univenlty Preu, 1951), 75-101, 142-175.
'CharI.. W. Puttkammer and Ruth Worthy, "W1lllam Monroe Trotter.
1872-1114," lounecaJ 01 Nef/TO Hiatory (OCtober. 1958), VLIU, 298.
~e tenu uRadicala" and ulndependenu" will be used to denote those
Nqrou who were oppolled to Booker T. WaahJ.ngton'. methods, especJaUy
bl8 cle-empbula of political activity. and his accomodaUon attitude.
tmwott M. RudWick, "The Niagara Kovement,·' lotmsCll
'0f1I (July, 1N7), XLII. 177·200.
01 Negro Hi3-
'11*1.
'Emma Lou Thombrouah. '"The BroWDSV1Ue Epl80de and the Negro
Vol....
4N.
JI~
VcaIIq ButoricoJ
~
(December, 1967) XLIV, . . .
'Woodward. NfJVJ BotIf., 321. . .; Puttkammer and Worthy, 'CWlWam
Monroe Trotter." U7.
'I'raDcI8 L. Brodertck, W~.B. DllBotI: Negro Leader ... II fttM 01
",.. (BtaDtont. CalUornla: Stanford UDlveralty Plea, 1969). N.
-Arthur S. UDk. W"'-: TM BoGCl to fM W"'e Boue (Pr1DeetoD.
New Jenq: PrlDcetoD UDiftnlty Pre8a. 1M7). G01-GCM.
"Ra)' 8taDDard Baker, lVoo6'oto wu.o..: UJe GIICI Lt1ttIJra (8
Mew YOl'k: DcMabledQ, Dora aDd Campuly, 1821-1118), m. 887.
YO....
SOCIAL SCIENCES
141
11Llnk, Road to the WMte Hovae, GCM.
"Baker, U/e and Letter8,
m,
387-388.
"Broderick, DdoU, N.
'4Arthur S. link. Wilson: The New Jl'reedom (Princeton, New Jersey:
Princeton University Press, 1958), 248-247.
"Baker, Ute atad Lettertr, IV, 221.
"Ibid., 223.
nCmia, (December, 1913), VU, 88.
'Albfd., (February, 1914), Vil, 17.
dlbid., (January, 1915), IX, 119-120; New Y07'k Timu, November 13,
1914,5.
IOCri8i8, (January, 1915), IX, 122; (February, 19115), IX, 168.
"Baltimore A/ro-America", December 27. 1913; January 3, 24, 1914;
February 14, 1914; editorials.
"Kathleen Long Wolgemuth, "Woodrow Wl18on's Appointment Policy
and the Negro," Journal 0/ Southern Bi8tory, (November, 1958), XXIV.
458-487.
~L1nk,
New Freedom, 244-245; Baker, LVe and Letters, IV, 222.
"Kathleen Long Wolgemuth, ··Woodrow Wilson and Federal Segregation," Journal 01 Negro History (April, 1959), XLIV, 172-173.
"Cri8i.!, (November, 1913), VII, 338; (November, 1914), IX, 17; (December. 1914), IX, 71.